Alice
by Dayle
Summary: As Marie fights for the sanity of a young girl the man she's secretely loved for five years finally reurns.
1. Default Chapter

It was early in the morning when we finally returned from a mission, an anti-mutant activist group had held a orphanage for mutant children hostage. We had overtaken them without an incident or casualty. The majority of the X-men got to return home. Some had to stay and find proper places for the children to stay. There wasn't any room at the mansion in fact, they were added on a new hall. Bruised and scraped, I took my dagger out of my boot and placed it in my locker. I grabbed my normal clothes and went to my room to change. After peeling off the hot leather uniform I changed into an over sized t-shirt and went to bed praying for a good day's rest. I was awakened an hour later by the Professor.

~Rogue, Scott and Bobby have brought in a young child. We may need your help.~ 

Groaning I got out of bed, got dressed, and went to the Med Lab. The Professor and Jean where there waiting for me outside of the waiting room. She gave me a weak smile and handed over a cup of coffee. 

"Okay, what's going on?" I asked heavily, hoping for an easy case. 

"A young girl, named Alice Livingston was found about a hundred yards away from the burning building, just standing there not moving eyes glazed, staring into the fire. They checked out her history, and about nine years ago her house was set on fire. Her Grandmother, the only family she had died. She barely made it out with some burns." Charles explained.

"Well that's easy enough, the fire triggered memories of an obviously traumatic experience and she's projecting. She should be fine." I said sipping the hot brew.

"She hasn't been fine since then. It happened when she was eight, and ever since then she's been walking around in a comatose state. Her files show that she is unresponsive to stimulates of any kind and isn't able to feed and bathe herself. She even wears a diaper. All she did was clutch an old stuffed rabbit. But every few months or so she'd have outbursts of self-mutilation, she'd use anything to hurt herself." Jean added.

"If she's that troubled, I don't see why you need me. Why don't the two of you probe her mind, or you could even use Cerebro." I asked, wondering what they were getting at.

"You see we've tried. But she's shielding herself. We think that she might be a psychic, and a strong one at that." Charles said putting his hand to the palm plate causing the doors to slide open. Inside on a bed laid a raven-haired girl. As we approached I took in her appearance. She was pale with out a freckle on her, almost as if she had been inside her whole life. She wore a light blue hospital gown and I took in the bandages on her wrists and old scars climbing her arms above them. Her big ice blue eyes were wide opened. Glazed, and fixed on something she could only see. Quietly I closed them and secured them down with medical tape. 

"She'll go blind," I explained softly.

"Marie," Jean started forward.

"You want me to enter her mind don't you?" I turned to them.

"We were going to ask you yes, but it's up to you." Charles wheeled beside me and laid a hand on my arm. "We aren't sure it will even work, we must try though."

"I don't know. I've never done it without the person's knowledge. She might think that I am a part of her mind. Besides I've never worked on such a disturbed individual.." I said returning my eyes to the girl in the bed. "I need some time to think about it. Can I have some time?"

"Take as much as you need." Charles said patting my hand.

"Yes I don't think she'll be going any where soon." Jean said.

            They turned and left me alone with Alice. I pulled a chair next to her bed and sat down with a sigh. I was in graduate school working on a degree for child psychology. But had been working with children at the school for some time now. My mutation had advanced to where I had complete control of what I took out of a person. I could even send feelings and memories to others with a touch. I had gone so long without physical human touch I became what is called an Empathic. I could feel what emotions others were projecting just by being in the same room as them. If I was around someone who was in a bad mood then I was in a bad mood. Charles said that my body was making it up to me by developing a new mutation. My eyes turned to the young girl lying on the bed; she is only two years younger than I was when I came to the school. I picked up her hand; it was warm and lifeless, dead weight in mine. Gently I turned it over and brushed my fingertips over the scars lightly. I closed my eyes and entered her mind.

            When I opened my eyes I was in a long hallway dimly lit every few yards with a single bare bulb. I couldn't see the ends of it, just light bulb after light bulb. On the floors lay a thick layer of dust, I jumped when a cockroach scurried by. I chose a direction and started walking; I had no sense of time but after a while I saw two figures in the distance, a young child in a blue dress with white hose and black shoes, it was a eight-year-old Alice. Pale skin showed though the patches of dirt on her face and her raven hair fell in two mussed braids down her back. She sat on the floor with her knees drawn up to her chest, talking to a mangy looking cat who sat facing her. 

"Alice?" I asked softly. She turned and looked at me her eyes widened in fear. She scrambled up off the floor and dove through a small door. 

"Wait, I just want to talk to you!" I called jogging forward and few paces.

"You'll never be able to talk to her that way." The cat said as I went passed. I stopped and turned.

"Did you just talk?"

"Of course, do you see anyone else here?" The cat said then lifted a paw to clean. 

I played along, "Well then, how can I talk to her?"

"She thinks that the Red Queen has sent you, that is why she fears." 

            Red Queen? She thinks that the Red Queen is after her? I looked down at myself, the red sweatshirt that's it, I had thrown it on over my white spaghetti strap shirt knowing how cold it would be in the Med Lab. I looked back up but the cat was gone. I unzipped the front and took it off dropping it on the floor. Then I kneeled in front of the small door, grabbed the doorknob and twisted, locked, the door looked flimsy enough, so I sat down on the floor brought my knees to my chest preparing to kick it down.

"Don't even think about it."

"Who said that?" I jumped up looking around.

"Me." I looked at the door, there was a mans face in the wood now.

"Fine, then open up." I said, things where starting to make sense, well under the circumstances. Alice thinks that she is the Alice from in Through The Looking Glass.

"I'd be glad to as long as you have the key for the lock." He replied smugly 

"I don't have a key." I said kneeling in front of the door again

"Ohh too bad,"

"Please, please I have to find Alice, it is very important that I talk to her. Will you please open?" I begged 

"No I'm afraid I can't." He said smiling 

"Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to kick you down." I said resuming my former position.

"Wait you didn't let me finish." He said quickly glancing at the bottom of my sneakers. "What I was about to say is, that I'm afraid I can't let you in unless you solve my riddle."

"Riddles? Come on, you gotta be kidding me?"

"Don't whine about it. I'm doing you the favor for the love of Mike."

"Fine, I suppose that's fair, alright, lay it on me."

"The more you take of me the more you leave behind, what am I?" Well, I was stumped. I was about to guess something that was clearly not the answer when I heard feet running down the hall towards me. I stood up and squinted down the hall, a few seconds later I saw men, dressed in red like guards or soldiers running towards me.

"There she is! Get her! Quick!"

"Now you're going to get it." I heard the door laugh gleefully. I was tempted to kick it in but thought better and ran. I could feel the guards a few yards back. I have to find Alice, are these men after her too? One of the guards grabbed me and swung me into the wall, the breath was knocked out of me. Still doubled over, I kneed him in the groin and kicked the next in the stomach. The first recovered, grabbed my arms from behind and held them behind me. The third stepped up twirling a sickle smiling devilishly.

"What were Her Majesty's orders, Private?"

"Off with the intruder's head." He replied, rubbing his stomach.

This is not real, it's only the imagination of a sick girl. But why can I feel his fingers digging into my flesh? Why was the breath knocked out of me? The guard drew back the weapon and swung it at my head. I have to get out of here! I screamed as I felt the blade make contact with my neck.


	2. Default Chapter

Logan pulled up to the school in his big black truck that had a trailer with Scott's bike in the back.  He walked up to the school and knocked on the door, Jean answered.

  "Logan, you're back. What a nice surprise." She said giving him a quick hug and stepping back to let him in. They walked into the living room where Scott, Ororo, and a big blue guy sat talking. They stopped at their entrance; Logan was greeted warmly and was introduced to Dr. Henry McCoy.

"So Logan did you find anything?" Ororo asked.

"Naw, when I finally found the place there was nothing left. I spent some time following some leads but they all came to a dead end."

"That's too bad Logan, the Professor will want to see you." Jean began

"Before that I want to say Hi to Marie." He said

"She is in the Med Lab, Hank and I were about to go there. We will show you the way." Ororo said standing up. Logan left his bag in the foyer and followed.

"The kid isn't hurt is she?" He asked worriedly

"No, she is counseling a child, the kid, as you like to call her, has grown up a lot since you left. She is working on a Master's Degree." She stopped and pressed her hand to the silver plate by the door.

"You're kidding me right?"

"No we are quite proud of her. She is in there, if you need anything we shall be across the hall." She said leaving him alone.

            He entered the dimly lit room, at the end he could see a girl lying in the bed and Marie sitting next to her, she was breathing evenly, she appeared to be asleep. He walked up and took the opportunity to thoroughly inspect her.  She was sitting straight up holding the girls hand, well, one question is answered, and she has control of her powers. He tried to keep too many dirty thoughts from entering his mind. His eyes moved up her legs, long and shapely in denim. Her stomach flat and smooth under her half zipped sweatshirt. Cleavage rose temptingly over a scooped necked white shirt, her neck and upper chest, and face glowed a golden hue but was still pale.  Her hair was thick and long and twisted up on the back of her head, platinum tendrils brushing her high cheekbones. Sooty black lashes rested on her cheeks and her eyes where moving under her lids, she must be dreaming. Her full lips started to move.

"Alice?"

Alice? Why was she dreaming about an Alice?

"What am I doing wrong?" Her smooth brow creased as she drew her eyebrows together as if in deep thought. "Red Queen? The sweatshirt." She breathed. Still keeping one hand on the girls and with the other she unzipped her sweatshirt. Then she drew one arm out at a time making sure a hand was always on the girls. "Please, I don't have a key, I have to talk to her." 

She started to twitch, then her breathing grew rapid, then she let out a whoosh of air and it looked like she was fighting to catch her breath. I couldn't take it anyone I grabbed her shoulders and shook her. She woke up with a jerk, eyes wide with fear. She pushed me away and stumbled backwards, over the chair, when she stood she took a few steps then collapsed in a heap on the floor. 

"Help! Somebody help me!" I picked her up and put her on a bed close by. Blood was pouring from a gash on her neck and down over her shirt. The red stood out brightly against the white and I was almost sick. Had she cut herself in the fall? Jean and Hank entered and began taking her vitals.

"Turn her on her side quick!" Jean said trying to examine her wound, "Jugular is still barely intact, thank God." She fought to stop the bleeding.

"Logan what happened?" Hank asked lifting up each eyelid and shining a light into them. 

"I don't know, I mean I came in and it looked like she was sleeping, but then she started to twitch and it looked like she was struggling for breath. I woke her up, she pushed me away took a few steps and hit the floor."

"She was just sleeping?"

"Yeah she was sitting next to that girl over there, sleeping." I explained. Jean and Hank exchanged worried looks. "What?"

"You don't think…" Hank began

"Yeah, I do." Jean said, "Logan was Rogue touching the girl?"

"She was holding her hand what fucking difference does it make?"

"Logan we were just curious," Jean lied, "Marie's mutation is still some cause for concern. Don't worry she will be fine, she probably had a nightmare, stood up too quickly and fell. As for the cut it's tiny and needs only about ten stitches." She took me by the arm and led me to the door. "The Professor wants to see you," She said and opened the door.

"Logan, I have to give Rogue a blood transfusion and close the wound. The Professor is outside and will answer all of your questions okay?" Sure enough Wheels was outside. 

"Get me the minute she wakes up." I said, and then followed Charles to the conference room down the hall.

            I sat down in a chair across from where the Professor had wheeled himself. God that was terrifying, I rubbed a hand across my face and great fully accepted the cup of coffee Ororo offered, welcoming the bitter burn in my mouth.

"Well that was a fine welcome if I do say so myself." Ro said smiling as she sipped her tea.

"Tell me about it, a lot has changed," I said.

"That happens after all, you couldn't expect things to be the same after five years." The Professor said warmly. "I will fill you in all the necessary details after you tell me about what you've been doing all this time."

"I followed all the leads you gave me they didn't turn up much, I went up near Alaska on one lead. That too was a dead end, then I just drifted from town to town listen for leads and cage fighting."

"I'm sorry to hear that Logan, I got the names of several of the doctor, but they are all dead and have no surviving family. You want to now what Rogue has been up to?"

"Yeah, I just want to know if you guys have been treating her right." I said, not wanting to sound too interested.

"Well about a month after you left she began to come to sessions with me to help her gain control of her gifts, we were quite successful she has a whole range of control. But one side effect is that she went so long without human contact she became what is known as an Empathic. Meaning she can sense what emotions people are experiencing, sometimes she can pick up pictures that are flashing through their heads. When she touches a person she can pick out certain memories, and information a person has. She can enter their minds and she can even bring somebody else into hers." 

"And she has control over all of this?" I asked in disbelief it sounded like a lot to deal with.

"Well, yes and no. She is able to have contact with a human being, but reframes from doing so. While she doesn't suck the life out of people, she can't control her powers enough, so she almost always gets the other person's emotions and mental pictures. Rogue thinks that's its evasion of privacy. But, with in the year we expect her to have absolute and complete control"

"Aren't you forgetting something Charles?" Ro asked 

"No Ororo I don't think I am." He said giving her a meaningful look and I was sure he said something telepathically

"Oh don't be silly, Logan won't mind." She said 

"What won't I mind?" I asked a little suspicious 

"That,"

"Ro I really think that," Chuck tried to intterupt, with no avail.

"Rogue is a vital and accomplished member of the X-Men."

"She's What!?" I exploded. "Jesus, I leave her in your care and this is what you do? Turn her into an X-man? How could you put her in such danger?"

"What did I tell you?" Charles said to Ro

"Logan one thing you have to realize is that Rogue is not a child anymore, she wanted to become an X-man, she wanted to go through all the training and pushed herself to be one of the strongest members of the team. She's a 24 year-old woman Logan." Ororo said soothingly as if she were talking to a child.  
"Don't worry Ororo, he'll have plenty of time to talk with Rogue about this, she's awake."


End file.
